Railway-switch stand



,Mar. 20,1923.

B. T. GIBBIS, JR.V RAILWAY SWITCH STAND.

.FILED 059.15 i922 2 SHEETS-SHEET l. v

@medici f" Mar'. 20, 1923.. 1,448,957., Bx T1 JR. RAILWAY SWITCH STAND.

'FILED BELG, l5. '1922. 2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

Patented lidar. Z0, i923.

llitll'i i lalaei BENDICT T. GIBBS, JR., OF CHCAGO HEIGHTS, ILLINOIS,ASSIGNOR T lVIO'tDEN FROG @n CROSSING VORKS, OF CHICAGO, LLINOVIS, ACORFORATION OF ILLINOIS.

RAILWAY-SWITCH STAND.

Application filed December 15, 1922. Serial No. 607,032.

To @ZZ whom t may concern:

Be it known that l, Bninnicr T. Gines, Jr., a citizen of the UnitedStates, residii'ig Chicago Heights, in the county of `Cool: and State ofillinois, have invented a certain new and useful Improvement in RailwaySwitch Stands, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to railway switch stands, specifically those ofthe type con ventionally installed across two ties at the side of aswitch to operate the switch point.

For a variety of reasons, well understood in the art unnecessary toenumerate here, it is desirable in such a stand to provide a certainamount of intentional lost motion, as distinguished from `objectionableloosen'ess found yin improperly built or seriously deterioratedmechanisms.

The object of this invention is to provide a conventional form of switchstand with such an intentional lost motion device, which is so locatedthat it is easily built and readn ily accessible when the stand is inuse, for repair or replacement.

The invention consists in mechanism for attaining the foregoing andother objects and in many features and details of construction whichwill be hereafter' more fully set forth in the specification and claims.

Referring to the drawings in which like numerals designate the sameparts through' out the several views: i

Figure 1 is a sectional plan view, taken on the line 1-1 of Figure 2,illustrating this invention in its preferred form.

Figure 2 is a side elevation largely in section, taken on the line 2-2of Figure 1.

Figure 3 is a similar view at right angles to that of Figure 2, taken ona line of Figure 1. i

Figure 4 is a perspective view of the es sentialV detail `parts enteringinto' this invention, removed from the switch stand proper. i

Figure 5 is a side view and Figure 6 a plan view of an alternative formof construction of the part shown in Figure 4. i

Figure 7 is a bottom view of the crank mechanism of Fig. 2.r

The switch stand,y case of conventional form to which this invention isapplied, including a base portion 10 and a cover 12, secured in place byany suitable means, as, for instance, bolts 14, is shown applied to tworailroad ties 16 and 18 by any suitable means, as, for instance, thespikes 20, in such a position that the conventional switch rod 22,operated by the device, can extend away between the ties to the switchpoint, not shown, to be controlled.

Journaled in the switchy stand case in the obvious manner is a shaft 24,conventional as to all except its lower portion, the same carrying thesegmental gear 26 meshing` with another gear 28 on a horizontal shaft30, evtending outside the case, and there carrying a conventionaloperating lever 32 equip `ped at its end with the usual weight 34,adapted to be rocked in a vertical plane between the position shown inFig. 1 and a corresponding position 180O therefrom, in which it restsupon member 36 on tiel6 as distinguished from member 38 on tie 18. Theupper end of shaft 24 is con/ventionallyprovided withl the target orlantern holding :mn-circular end 40. A

The rotatable shaft 24 is in the preferred construction provided withthe nonfcircular lower end 42, adapted to receive the cylindrical hub 44of a non-'circular nut 46, the

samebeing detachably secured in `place by i any suitable means, as, forinstance, the pin and cotter construction48 of Figure ,3.

interposed between the bottomk portion v10 l of the stand case and thenon-circular parts 46, heretofore referred to, and journalledfon the hub44, is the cylindricalhub 49 of two oppositely disposed crank arms 50and 52,

,each selectively attachable to the switchfrod 22 by any suitable means,for instance, the bolt 54. `The inner connecting portion 56 of thesetwol crank arms 52 and 54 is provided with an elongated recess 58 ofsubstantially the same contour but slightly larger than the noncircularnut portions 46,

with the result that when the parts are assembled as shown inthedrawings with the nut members 46 in the recess 58, there is just .theright amount of play or lost motion between members 46 and 563` 'n ylheconstruction describedhas the distinct advantage that, by removingcotte-r pin 48, the nut member 46 may be dropped out of the levermechanism 50-`52 and replaced by a new one of the same sizeor Valdifferent size, as may be requiredfor the switch constructingopera-tion, without its being necessary to in any way disturb` the restofthe switch stand. Furthermore, these adjustloo able parts are solocated that they are in large measure protected by the body of thestand from access by rain or snow and yet the stand, itself, does nothave to be opened in order to reach them for replacement or repair, asdescribed..

In the alternative construction of Figures 5 and 6, the lower end ofvertical shaft 24 is provided'with an integral cam or nut 60 ofapproximately the shape of member 46, while the lever arm mechanism 62,corresponding to device -52, is arovided with an open-topped recess 6aloosely enclosing member with just suliicient clearance to give lthedesiredamount of lost motion in the entire mechanism. In thisconstruction, the lever device 62 is detachably secured to the bottom ofshaft 2d below cam 46 through the agency of an elongated slot 6G and pin68 connectionV of conventional form, so shaped and adjusted as to allowthe necessary amount of pla-y between the members 60 and 62 to give thedesired lost motion effect.

In this alternative construction, most of the advantages of thepreferred construction are present and, in addition, there is only oneloose part, viz: the crank mechanism 62, which is separated from theswitch stand when the pin 68 is removed, instead of two parts as in thevpreferred construction. This reduces the danger of accidental loss ofparts. In the alternative construction of `Figure 5, the hub 70 of lowercase member 10 s split vertically, at a point not shown, to permit theinsertion of shaft 24 to the position shown.

Attention is called to the fact that by completely enclosing thenon-circular members in the crank arm and its hub, the height of thestand is kept at a minimum.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new and desiretosecure by Iietters Patent is:

l. In mechanism of the class described, in combination with a shaft,means for rotating it and a switch rod to be operated by the shaft; acrank arm attached to the connecting rod, having a non-circular openingentered` by said shaft, and a non-circular member, non-rotatable on theshaft, carried by the shaft, loosely fitting, by a predeter minedamount, in said non-circular opening for the purposes set forth.

2. In mechanism of the class described, i combination with a shaft,means for rotating it and a switch rod to be operated by the shaft; acrank arm attached to the connecting rod, having a non-circular openingentered by said shaft, and a non-circular member non-rotatable on theshaft detachably carried by the shaft loosely fitting, by apredetermined amount, in said non-circular opening, for the purposes setforth.

3. In mechanism of the class described, in

combination with a shaft, means for rotating it and a switch rod to beoperated by the shaft; a crank arm attached to the con necting rod,having a non-circular opening entered by said shaft, a journal bearingbetween the shaft and crank arm, and a noncircular member non-rotatableon the shaft carried by the shaft loosely fitting, by a predeterminedamount, in said non-circular opening for the purposes set forth.

4. In mechanism of the class described, in combination with a shaft,means for rotating it and a switch rod to be operated by the shaft; aycrank arm attached to the connecting rod, having a non-circular openingentered by said shaft, a journal bearing between the shaft and crankarm, and a noncircular member non-rotatable on the shaft, detachablycarried by the shaft loosely fitting, by a predetermined amount, in saidnon-circular opening, for the purposes set forth.

5. In mechanism of the class described, in combination with a shaft,means for rotating it and a switch rod to be operated by the shaft, acrank arm attached to the connecting rod, having a non-circular openingentered by said shaft, a journal bearing between the shaft and crankarm, and a noncircular member non-rotatable on the shaft, detachablycarried by the shaft loosely litting, by a predetermined amount, in saidnon-circular opening, the non-rotatable member being at the end of theshaft and assisting in holding the crank arm on the shaft.

6. In mechanism of the class described, a shaft having a non-circularend and a bearing portion adjacent thereto for rotation in a case, acrank arm enclosing the end of the shaft having a non-circular openingfreely entered by the non-circular end of the shaft and a non-circularmember' detachably carried by the non-circular end of the shaft, havinga part constituting a journal bearingl for the crank arm and having apart fitting loosely by a predetermined amount in! the opening in thecrank, the entire non-circular 'member beingwithin the body of thecrank, and means detachably securing all the parts in operativeposition.

7. In` mechanism of the class described, in combination with a shaft,means for rotating it and a switch rod to be operated by the shaft; acrank armattached tothe connecting rod, having a non-circular openingent-ered by said shaft, and a non-circular member, non-rotatable on theshaft, carried by the shaft, completely enclosed in the crank arm,loosely fitting, by a predetermined amount, in said non-circular openingfor the purposes set forth.

S. In mechanism of the class described, in combination with a shaft,means. for rotating it and a switch rod to be operated by .lli

the shaft; a crank arm attached to the con'- necting rod7 having anon-circular opening entered by said shaft, and a non-circular membernon-rotatable on the shaft, having a hub detachably carried by the shaftcompletely enclosed in and forming a bearing for the crank arm, saidnon-circular member loosely fitting, by a predetermined amount` in saidnon-circular opening, for the purposes set forth. v

9. In mechanism of the class described, in combination With a shaft,means for rotatingit and a switch rod to be operated by the shaft; acrank arm attached to the connecting rod, having a non-circular opening`entered by said shaft, a journal bearing between the shaft and crankarm7 and a noncircular member non-rotatable on the shaft carried by theshaft loosely fitting, by a predetermined amount7 in Said non-circularopening, the mounting for the non-circular member on the shaftconstituting said journal bearing, for the purposes set forth.

10. In mechanism of the class described, in combination with a shaft,means for rotating it and a switch rod to be operated by the shaft; acrank arm attached to the connecting rod, having a non-circular openingentered by said shaft, a journal bearing between the shaft and crankarm, and a noncircular member non-rotatable on the shaft, detachablycarried by the shaft loosely litting, by a predetermined amount, in saidnon-circular opening, the mounting` for the non-circular member on theshaft constitut ing said journal bearing, for the purposes set forth.

In Witness whereof, I have hereunto subscribed my name.

BENEDICT T, GIBBS, JH.

